Monks celebrate start of monastery renovation

BONSALL — The stage was bedecked in bright oranges and blooming flowers as dancers swirled on Sunday, celebrating the first phase of a long-awaited Vietnamese monastery renovation.

More than 750 people, some from as far away as Australia, attended the event at the QLN Conference Center in Oceanside. It was the second of two gatherings to commemorate the upcoming renovation of the Dai Dang Meditation Center in Bonsall. A cornerstone for the new center was placed during an event held Saturday at the monastery.

“The Vietnamese people have been waiting for this for a very long time,” said Myhanh Phan, 65, a co-founder of the meditation center and a Bonsall resident.

Monks in traditional orange robes and lay people in blue meditation garb listened as speakers praised the development of the center and the role it will play in the growth and preservation of their religion.

Since the ’60s and ’70s, the Trúc Lâm sect of Zen Buddhism has been undergoing a revitalization. Being able to establish this meditation center, said Phan, is an extension of those efforts and an important step for the religion’s presence in the U.S.

A fixture in the community since 2001, the monastery sits on 9 acres at 6326 Camino Del Rey in Bonsall. Ten monks live there. The congregation plans to expand the number of residents to 30 and build a 7,664-square-foot meditation hall, a 6,196-square-foot worship hall and an 8,936-square-foot building for a kitchen, library and living quarters. With expanded facilities, the center would be able to host up to 300 people on the weekends.

Phan said that because of this expansion, more young monks can be trained, helping to carry on the traditions and teachings of Trúc Lâm.

“It is like when the old bamboo shoot dies and new bamboo shoots take root,” she said. “We want to see (these traditions) continue to grow and blossom.

The monastery had pursued expansion for about 10 years. The county Board of Supervisors approved the plan in July. Some community members had opposed the project, saying it was out of character for the rural and agricultural area,

Farm Bureau Executive Director Eric Larson told supervisors in July that the plan contradicted the guidelines they created for agricultural land in the county’s general plan.

“You wanted the rural farming areas to stay as they were, with low density,” he said. “That’s the plan you adopted.”

Ultimately, the supervisors allowed the project to move forward in a 4-1 vote.

Construction plans are still in their formative stages and are dependent on fundraising, said Joseph Roissier, a monk at the monastery. In July, about $4 million to $5 million needed to be raised.